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No guarantees about Afghanistan’s future post-pullout: American NSA

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No one can offer guarantees about Afghanistan’s future after U.S. troops leave, a top White House official said on Sunday, even as he stressed the United States would stay focused on terrorist threats emanating from the country.

This comes after US President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that United States will withdraw all remaining troops from Afghanistan by September 11.

In an interview with Fox News Sunday, the White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was asked about the risk of a repeat of what happened in Iraq, where Islamic State (ISIS) militants seized territory after U.S. troops withdrew in 2011.

That led then-President Barack Obama to send troops back into Iraq.

Sullivan said Biden had no intention of sending American forces back to Afghanistan, but he added: “I can’t make any guarantees about what will happen inside the country. No one can.”

“All the United States could do is provide the Afghan security forces, the Afghan government and the Afghan people resources and capabilities, training and equipping their forces, providing assistance to their government. We have done that and now it is time for American troops to come home and the Afghan people to step up to defend their own country.”

But Afghan President Ashraf Ghani rejected what he said were “false analogies” with the war in Vietnam as well as any suggestion his government was at risk of folding under Taliban pressure after U.S. troops leave. Afghan security forces were capable of defending the country, he said.

“The Afghan defense and security forces have been carrying over 90% of the operations in the last two years,” Ghani said in an interview with CNN.

Meanwhile former president Donald Trump said in a statement that leaving Afghanistan was “a wonderful and positive thing to do,” but called for a more rapid departure. Trump had set a May 1 deadline to withdraw.

CIA Director William Burns told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday that America’s ability to collect intelligence and act against extremist threats in Afghanistan will diminish after the departure of U.S. troops, Reuters reported.

A United Nations report in January said there were as many as 500 al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan and that the Taliban maintained a close relationship with the group. The Taliban denies al-Qaeda has a presence in Afghanistan.

Announcing his decision to withdraw troops, Biden said the United States would monitor the threat, reorganize counterterrorism capabilities and keep substantial assets in the region to respond to threats to the United States emerging from Afghanistan.

“He has no intention of taking our eye off the ball,” Sullivan said of the president.

“We have the capacity, from repositioning our capabilities over the horizon, to continue to suppress the terrorist threat in Afghanistan.”

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Eleven people shot dead at shrine in Baghlan

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Eleven people have been killed in a shooting at a shrine in Afghanistan’s northern Baghlan province, local sources said on Friday.

The incident took place at 9 pm on Thursday at the shrine of Sayed Padsha Jan in Shahr-e-Kuhna of Nahrin district.

A local resident said the dead were residents of Nahrin district and wanted to spend the night at the shrine.

Asadullah Mustafa Hashemi, the provincial information and culture director, confirmed the incident but did not provide details on how it happened or the number of casualties.

Provincial police spokesman said they had not received any information about the incident yet.

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Chinese, Turkmen officials meet to discuss Afghanistan

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Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Serdar Muhammetdurdiyev on Thursday met with Chinese special envoy for Afghanistan, Yue Xiaoyong, the Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan announced.

During the meeting, the sides discussed priority vectors of strategic interstate cooperation built on a long-term, mutually beneficial basis, as well as exchanged views on the implementation of previously reached agreements.

It was noted that personal contacts between the leaders of the two countries play a key role in intensifying the interstate dialogue, which give a strong impulse to further development and expansion of Turkmen-Chinese ties.

It was emphasized that Turkmenistan considers multilateral international platforms for maintaining stability in Afghanistan as an important factor in promoting sustainable improvement of socio-economic state of the neighboring country. The sides exchanged views on the preparations to the 5th meeting of Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan's Neighboring States to be held in Turkmenistan.

The interlocutors reaffirmed that Turkmenistan and China will continue to provide all-round support for the economic restoration of Afghanistan.

 
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U.S. House approves bill on evacuation of Afghan allies

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The U.S. House Of Representatives has passed a legislation on evacuation of Afghans who assisted Americans during the 20-year war in Afghanistan.

“The passage of the CARE Authorization Act of 2024 further underscores the commitment made by the U.S. government to safeguard those who served shoulder-to-shoulder with our personnel during the twenty-year mission in Afghanistan,” Congresswoman Dina Titus said in a statement.

“The State Department has made it clear: There is no deadline for the crucial job of protecting Afghan allies. By authorizing the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts at the State Department, we can more effectively relocate and resettle those who have qualified to immigrate to the U.S. as a result of their service to this country.”

In 2022 the State Department established a specialized office called the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE) to streamline and coordinate the ongoing relocation and resettlement process for eligible Afghans from Afghanistan and Pakistan to the United States.

The CARE Authorization Act of 2024 will formally authorize the CARE office at the State Department for three years and grant important authorities to advance its mission. These include an extension of authorities to enter into personal services contracts as well as measures to streamline the transfer of funds to and from other agencies involved in the Afghan relocation mission.

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